Waco: Jury Selection Begins In Capital Murder Trial

WACO (February 24, 2014) Jury selection was underway Monday in the capital murder trial of Us Carnell Petetan, who is accused of shooting his estranged wife to death in 2012.

Just last month jurors found Petetan, 37, mentally competent to stand trial for the capital murder of Kikberley Farr Petetan, 44, a Gatesville native, who was gunned down Sept. 23, 2012 outside the Landing Apartments in the 2500 block of East Lake Shore Drive.

Because prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case, jurors are being interviewed individually as part of the selection process, which could last several days.

Judge Ralph Strother, in the 19th District Court, has set trial to begin in April.

Petetan, of Port Arthur, has been held in the McLennan County Jail on a $1 million bond on the capital murder charge and without bond on a state prison parole violation, jail records showed.

Petetan has been in custody since his arrest the day after the deadly shooting when he was stopped on a traffic violation in Bryan and officers discovered he was named in an arrest warrant.

Police also recovered Kimberley Petetan's 9-year-old daughter, who police say was abducted from the scene of the shooting the day before.

She wasn't harmed.

The Petetans were married, but weren't living together at the time of the shooting, police said.

Petetan was originally indicted in November, 2012 and was then re-indicted a month later.

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